Lucknow: A year after a 60-foot-long iron bridge was stolen in Bihar, a 50-metre-high mobile tower weighing over 10 tonnes was stolen at Ujjaini village in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district.
Curiously, while a technician reported the matter to police only on Wednesday, November 29, his complaint states that the tower was found missing on March 31. Police lodged an FIR – under IPC’s Section 379 (theft) – based on his complaint. Not just the tower, but a shelter, electrical fitting, and other equipment – all part of the mobile tower assembly – worth over Rs 8.5 lakh, were gone, the technician stated in the complaint.
The incident kept police on their toes the whole of Thursday, as a team from Sandipan Ghat police station inspected the site and recorded statements of the landowner and locals.
The technician, one Rajesh Kumar Yadav, a resident of Rashipur (Raniganj) in Pratapgarh and working for a Maharashtra-based network service firm, stated in his complaint that his company installed a tower in the field of one Ubid Ullah, at Ujjaini village in Kaushambi district, in January this year.
Yadav said when he visited the spot for inspection on March 31, 2023, the entire tower, along with other paraphernalia, was gone without a trace. Yadav told police that his company installed more than a dozen mobile towers in different parts of the district.
Bhuvnesh Chaubey, station officer at Sandipan Ghat PS, said “We are probing all aspects of the case. One odd fact is the date of the FIR itself, for example. According to the complainant, he found the tower missing on March 31, but he came to us to report the matter 9 months later, on November 29.”
“A team from Sandipan Ghat police station visited the spot and interacted with the landowner and villagers to enquire about the incident. Locals told police that a group of people brought the apparatus and other equipment for setting up a mobile tower to the site some 9 months ago, but they did not install the tower,” Chaubey said.
“We have begun a detailed investigation into the case and will submit a report under appropriate sections if the charges are found false,” Chaubey said.
